


The Spartan Cry

by White_Noise



Category: Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Mirror Universe
Genre: A Tardigrade named Killer, F/M, ISS Discovery, M/M, Mirror Universe, Spoilers for Mid Season Final
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 09:50:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12745908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/White_Noise/pseuds/White_Noise
Summary: Lieutenant Stamets is dead. But for the good of the Empire, Captain Lorca doesn't intend for him to stay dead.(A Mirror Verse Discovery Fic)





	The Spartan Cry

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic for Star Trek Disco. Let's explore the Mirror Verse and the theory that Lorca is from there. 
> 
> (Unbeta'd. All mistakes are my own but what do you expect. I wrote it in an hour)

“Come back with your shield. Or come back on it.”

The words ran through Captain Gabriel Lorca’s head as he slowly strolled through the corridors of the ISS Discovery, his movements pleasantly jolting the fresh cuts on his back as if Katrina’s knife was still on him as she whispered those words, carving her claim into his flesh.

He knew their meaning well. Either complete his mission. Or die. 

The mission that would turn the tide of this war. That would allow the Terran Empire to crush the Klingons before they could ever fight back. 

They had been so close. Lieutenant Stamets Spore Drive was a thing of beauty, allowing Discovery to rule Space with an Iron Fist until it had all gone to shit. Stamets had been murdered when a Klingon sympathiser, Harry Mudd had snuck into the ship with the intention to destroying Stamets pet Tardigrade ‘Killer’ in the mistaken belief that he could stop the Spore Drive. Stamets, outside of the timeloops Mudd had trapped the ship in, had forced the rebel into a corner, destorying the time crystal. Mudd had lashed out and Stamets, in an attempt to keep his research safe, had stepped in front of his pet, catching the Weaponised Dark Matter as Mudd had been shot from behind by Cadet Tilly. 

Killer had been saved but Stamets had perished, his body ripped apart in front of his team from the force of the Dark Matter, leaving nothing left to bury. The only good thing have been that Mudd hadn’t died straight away. And Lorca had found great pleasure in calling Doctor Culber in to ‘help’ the man. 

The feel of Mudd’s blood, the red splatters across Culber’s normally pristine white uniform had gone some way to alleviating Lorca’s disappointment as the life had drained from the rebels eyes (Even if it had left Discovery’s CMO somewhat unhinged, not that he wasn’t before his husband’s death)

The incident had left the ISS Discovery in an uproar, Lorca having to crush several rebellions and execute multiple crewmembers before order was finally restored. 

Thankfully, his Second, Commander Michael Burnham hadn’t revolted (This time) The woman was vicious, a cold mix of Vulcan logic and Human sadism. As the adopted daughter of the Vulcan defector Sarek, the woman had been raised to be a credit to the Terran Empire, having already killed her first Captain, Philippa Georgiou and Georgiou’s bizarre Kelpien pet Saru when the woman proved to be too weak to control her ship. 

Lorca knew he was lucky to have Burnham on his crew as the woman had more than earned her own captaincy. He also knew never to turn his back on her. 

Even now, as he was about to leave his ship and crew to her, he didn’t fully trust her. 

Still, it couldn’t be helped. 

It had become clear in the last few weeks as Cadet Tilly had attempted to continue her mentor’s work that Killer was dying. Without the connection to its master through their shared DNA, the Tardigrade no longer had the strength to survive a whole ship jump. But it may have enough for a single person.

Despite force-feeding the creature mycelial spores, Culber and Tilly had concluded, and Burnham had confirmed that in all likelyhood, Killer only had one jump left before the creature would perish. So they had to make it count.

There was only one man Lorca trusted for such a mission. Himself. 

The fact of the matter was, Discovery and The Terran Empire needed Lieutenant Paul Stamets to keep doing his work. Any Lieutenant Paul Stamets. 

In the early days of his Spore Drive, when the connection between him and Killer had been new and the Tardigrade had still followed the man around like an excited puppy, Stamets had told Lorca how he could now see multiple universes existing in sync with one another. Multiple universes where Stamets created the Spore Drive. Multiple universes where Discovery made the jumps. 

Stamets had theorised that it would be possible, with enough work, that the combined power of the Drive and Killer could allow someone to jump into another universe. 

They had lost Stamets. But somewhere in another universe, they had not. And that was Lorca’s plan. Find a universe where Stamets hadn’t been killed by Mudd, establish the link and bring him back home to continue his great work.

Arriving at Engineering, Lorca stepped inside to the waiting crowd. 

Tilly was standing at the controls, watching Killer as the Tardigrade paced inside its cage, her dark red curls swept away from her face, her dark eyes flashing with a cruel light. Next to her, Culber stood, his uniform once again a clean white in contrast with the gold badges and sash which symbolised his position as a senior member of the Empire. 

Across the room, Commander Burnham stood with Admiral Cornwell, the two most dangerous women in Lorca’s life talking quietly as though they weren’t planning his murder should he fail his mission. 

Nodding to the assembled group, Lorca quickly removed his jacket and sash, leaving them draped over a nearby rail. 

He turned to look at the Spore Drive as someone approached. 

“Are you ready Captain?” A voice said in his ear. Lorca turned and looked at the woman beside him.

“Don’t fuck up my ship while I’m gone Burnham, or I will kill you.” He stated, noting the flash of amusement on the woman’s face, as sharp and quick as the knife he knew she had hidden in her jacket. 

At the console, Tilly pressed a few buttons, opening Killers cage to corral it inside the drive. Lorca watched as the Tardigrade was pushed into position by a force field before the probes appeared, skewering the creature and holding it in place. Spores immediately began to flood the chamber, bathing the withering, screeching creature in a blue glow. 

“We are ready for you Captain.” The young cadet announced, opening the door to the second chamber. 

Stepping into the chamber, Lorca made his way to the slanted platform and lay against it. Footsteps followed him as Dr Culber entered, hypospray in hand. 

Lorca felt the cold device press against his neck and a sharp sting before the Doctor stepped back. 

“Something to help.” Culber said coldly before withdrawing from the chamber. 

Lorca nodded his understanding to the doctor. He knew that Culber wasn’t interested in making the jump easier on him. Hell, the Doctor was only one hypospray away from poisoning the whole crew these day, starting with Lorca. But he stood to gain back his husband from this missions success so Culbers personal dislike of Lorca was being kept at bay for now. 

The door to the chamber closed as Lorca relaxed, taking one last look at his team as the long probes slowly extended towards him. 

“Remember my words Gabriel.” Admiral Cornwell called out. 

Suddenly, the probes shot forward burying themselves agonisingly into Lorca’s flesh.

\------

“Mr Stamets, shall we dock this weary vessel?” Captain Lorca asked from his seat on the bridge. He waited expectantly for the reply from Engineering as the bridge crew went about their duties, preparing for a jump. 

Slowly, Lorca cast his eyes over the bridge, its flashing lights and reflecting surfaces. His eyes caught a figure, a reflection. 

Lorca didn’t bother to turn around to see the cause of the reflection. He knew that he wouldn’t see anyone. In the reflection, a blond man watching him, blue eyes flashing with amusement. In the reflection, Lorca could see the gold badge on his chest, the sash around the man’s waist, in contract to the familiar blue and silver uniform. The same one that he had worn when he died.

If died was the correct word. 

“Yes Captain.” Stamets replied over the comm. 

In the reflection, the man smile at Lorca before fading from view. 

Reaching down slowly, so none of the bridge crew would notice the movements, Lorca patched his override into the navigation controls, setting the coordinates for the Spore Drive. Slowly, Lorca smiled and prepared for his success. 

He was bringing his shield home.

**Author's Note:**

> So bits from the Mirror Verse as I imagined it
> 
> \- Lorca is the Captain of the ISS Discovery. His Second is Michael who killed Captain Georgiou and Saru during her mutiny (I couldn't find a reasonable way to incorporate Saru into the Mirror Verse)  
> \- Ash Tyler is not a member of the crew here (Apart from me having serious suspicions about him not being human) In this universe, the Klingon War is going very differently so if he did exist, he wasn't a POW and Lorca never met him  
> \- Stamets found a way to both save the Tardigrade (Who in this reality was lovingly dubbed 'Killer') and increase the Spore Drive by fusing them together. So he did have the Tardigrade DNA but both of them were used in the machine for jumps, making them more powerful. Sadly when Stamets died, Killer was left trying to run the jumps by itself and the same thing that happened to Ripper happened but the crew are a lot less interested in saving Killer.  
> -In this reality Mudd is a rebel against the Terran Empire, advocating freedom for all species. This led him to the suicide mission that killed Stamets.  
> -Culber and Tilly are a lot nastier here. Both have killed before and not just Mudd in Culber's case.  
> \- The scars Cornwell sees on Lorca's back in episode 6 were not caused by Klingons but rather caused by the Mirror Cornwell  
> \- The mirror Stamets might actually be Mirror Verse Stamets who may not be as dead as first thought.  
> \- I tried to imply that Lorca re-wrote the Navigation drive to bring USS Discovery into the Mirror Verse to hand Stamets over to the Empire.  
> \- I also didn't get around to it but in my head, part of the reason Lorca rescued Michael from life imprisonment was because he knows her Mirror Self and wants to keep her where she can be useful to him.  
> \- I also thought about making references to the Enterprise episodes and mention the Defiant but again, didn't get around to it.
> 
> Edit: This is supposed to be a one-shot but now I have all these ideas going through my head about how the Mirror Crew interact with one another and what will happen when Lorca gets back to his ship. Maybe I should continue.


End file.
